Eating Everything

by Shannon

"O God, come to my assistance. 

Lord, make haste to help me."

~Psalm 96:2

On Tuesday, Ryan and I enjoyed an evening at church for Vespers and a dinner in honor of Saint Joseph's feast day. (Thanks to Paul and Caitlin for watching The Crunchmeister!)

Father had a lovely homily, and here's a bit: The Lord has entrusted in all of us a task: be it priest, religious, husband, wife, father, mother. Pray that, through Saint Joseph's intercession, we care for our vocation and those entrusted to each of us. 

The dinner that followed is an annual thing put on my our parish's youth. It. Was. Fantastic. Wine (not from a box!); hot baked bread; tossed salad with parmesan, tomatoes, cucumber and a vinaigrette; a choice of spaghetti with meatballs, linguini with sausage and peppers, grilled chicken fettuccine alfredo, or baked ziti with meatballs; and tons of desserts. I got the ziti and cheese cake, and Ryan got everything, since it was a feast day and all. 

With Julia and Michael seated to our left and Rob and Ally seated to our right, we were in for a fantastic evening away from the kiddo. 

We have a large parish, and there are lots of people in different age groups, which made it really easy for us to make friends. It's a great place to be in our city and archdiocese.

The only picture I got of Ryan,
and I treasure the side-eye Julia is giving him.

Say it with me: But Shannon — WHAT ... DID ... YOU ... WEAR?!

Sorry 'bout the bad photography.
I don't normally take picture in the house after dark.

Deets:

Stripey zipper sweater: Banana Republic, flea market

Love knot earrings: Victoria Townsend, Macy's 

Gold locket: heirloom

Tortoise-shell watch: Fossil

Needlepoint bag: Vintage, antique mall in town

Denim A-line skirt: Style&Co, Macy's

Gray cable-knit tights: probably TJ Maxx

Navy socks: who cares

Stompin' boots: Anne Klein, Zappos

Well, I sure look tired. I should have taken the pictures in the morning before work. I'm posting that horrible picture to show that my hair might actually be under control a little better since Sunday. I parted the other way. Who knew?

I luuuuurve the zipper on that sweater. Can't tell in the picture, but there's a little brown leather piping on the sides of the zipper, to tie in with the boots. That $6 flea-market find was screaming my name from across the building. 

Beautiful, right? I'm vice president of the Old Lady Handbags Club. 

Now off to spend some time with my beloved sister, Kelsey. We have plans for crafting, antiquing, consignment shopping, and etc. etc. etc. My favorite kind of weekend.  : )

Five Favorites II

by Shannon

Linking up with Lovely Lady Hallie Lord for Five Favorites, the easiest linkup on The Internets.

I love...

~1~

...this video. It's always refreshing to see a news piece about the Church that not only contains zero negativity but also puts Her in such a positive light. I'm not usually an Internet-video watcher, but this one gets the Shannon Official Seal of Approval (not to be confused with the Shannon Unofficial Seal of Approval).

~2~

...Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm.

Source: Burt's Bees website

We go through numerous tubes of this stuff each year (some of which meet an untimely death due to natural elements, like a hot car or washing machine). I have convinced pretty much everyone I know  to use this stuff. It has that nice medical tingle like Blistex without that pesky true-addiction risk. It never ever EVER goes on sale, so I buy the multi-packs. 

~3~

...this church. 

St. Louis Bertrand here in Louisville is probably the most beautiful church we have, and there is quite a bit of competition (there are 111 parishes in our archdiocese!). Not only is St. Louie a beautiful place to pray, but also the church is home to Dominican friars and multiple priests. These priests are among the best homilists I've ever witnessed, and the confessional line moves reeeeeally fast. 

~4~

...Annie's hair.

Source: Daily Makeover

She's been my hairspiration for months, but her Golden Globes hair is the best yet. Today I have a happy haircut scheduled. I can usually tell I have an appointment coming by looking in the mirror instead of my planner.

~5~

...Pope Alarm! I'm checking my e-mail like car-raaaay-zeee. (Ryan and I don't text.)

God's Architect

Come See Me at the Zoo!

by Shannon

"...Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them."

– Luke 2:19-20

Happy Feast Day of Mary, the Mother of God!

We visited another beautiful parish in our archdiocese for Mass today, but we also checked in at our parish so I could shoot some pictures before the Christmas decorations come down in a few days. We're very blessed to worship in such a timelessly beautiful church.

Á la Catholic Icing, Jennifer Fulwiler and Brandon Vogt, our family is choosing a patron saint for 2013. I've been trying to think up great ways to celebrate the Year of Faith, and this one is a clear winner. Since this is our first year trying out this devotion, and I tend to overwhelm us with new traditions to try with the arrival of each liturgical season, we chose an easy one: St. Francis of Assisi.

I called him "easy" not because his life is simple to emulate (Which saint's is?), but rather because there are abundant opportunities to connect with him, which will make our devotion more difficult to forget.

We conveniently already own a St. Francis statue, a St. Francis icon, two framed copies of The Prayer of St. Francis, the first two volumes of The Adventures of Loupio for Cruncher (a fictional story about a little boy who is friends with St. Francis, illustrated in graphic-novel style). We (opportunly) bought Cruncher a family zoo membership for Christmas, which ties in so nicely with St. Francis' connections to animals and the environment. There are loads of literature, movies and music inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, not to mention St. Clare of Assisi and other saints who were Franciscans or Poor Clares. It is additionally helpful that his feast day of Oct. 4 happens to fall on a Friday this year. We'll probably plan a big Italian meal, as he is a patron of Italy. I would love, love, LOVE to do some sort of pilgrimage relating to him, but Italy and San Francisco are out of the question. Please let me know if you have any ideas.

We also chose him because, despite his popularity, we've surprisingly never included him in our family litany of saints. I really wanted to choose someone we could add to our arsenal, so to speak. I'm really excited about all of the prayer, teaching and learning opportunities a devotion with St. Francis will provide us this year. I'll try to keep everyone updated on how it goes.

If you're interested in connecting with a new saint, perpetual nerd Jennifer Fulwiler programmed the Saint's Name Generator. I gave it a spin, and it shot out St. Raymond Nonnatus, whom we already have a statue of in our home, plus we ask for St. Raymond's intercession for one of our godsons whose middle name is "Ray." A schoolteacher friend clicked "Find a Saint for Me!" and was ironically connected with St. Jerome, patron of schoolchildren! Give it a whirl.

Here's to a blessed 2013 for you and all your loved ones!

Edit: I discovered another St. Francis find in our house! The Little Flowers of St. Francis by Raphael Brown. We are EXTREMELY lucky to have a local used and new bookstore owned by two parishoners. Their Catholic section is Ah. May. Zing. Guess I know what I'm reading next...

Of Saints, Skeletons and Saison (Part 1)

by Ryan

"One of the major highlights of Fr. Zabler’s pastorate came on December 31, 1901, when St. Martin received possession of the relics of two martyrs, St. Magnus and St. Bonosa. During the early third century A.D., the emperor Diocletian vented his fury against Rome’s Christians. In an effort to purge these 'heretics,' he put to death more than 15,000 persons in a single month. Among those who died were Magnus, a Roman centurion who cast his lot with the Christians, and Bonosa, a Roman virgin.[1]"

This, according to Church legend, is the account of SS. (saints) Magnus and Bonona, whose remains have called St. Martin of Tours home since December 31, 1901. Recently, with the permission of Joseph Kurtz, archbishop of Louisville, Fr. Frederick Klotter allowed archaeologist Philip DiBlasi and four students from the University of Louisville to examine the remains while the side altars, where the saints' bones rested, could be repaired.

So, this naturally raises the question: Why would a parish have any interest in keeping the bones of saints anyway? What sense does that make? Fr. Klotter explains below: 

After Fr. Klotter spoke briefly on the legends behind the saints, Professor DiBlasi began to explain his team’s findings:

This ceramic container holds the blood of St. Magnus; these samples will be tested in the future.

Professor DiBlasi with his team and SS. Magnus (right) and Bonosa (left). Notice that Magnus and Bonosa are both holding palm branches; these are traditionally signs of martyrdom and the paradise (Heaven) that awaited those who died in faith. (Click the photo to enlarge.)

The remains of St. Bonosa are noticeably more complete; both were later confirmed to have their own bones (not mixed with other skeletons).

One of the pictures of Bonosa, confirming aspects of her life believed since the third century. Other pictures confirm Bonosa was a young woman (approx. 24 y.o.) and Magnus was older (approx. 47 y.o.).

Ultimately, DiBlasi and his team were very pleased with their findings; it seems that these skeletons of Magnus and Bonosa provide nothing to refute the legends that accompany them. DiBlasi also noted how easily skeletons in Roman catacombs (where they were originally placed after death) were mixed up, and bones often filled in the gaps of other skeletons; this seems not to be the case here.

Professor DiBlasi reveals the results of his study.

In the case of SS. Magnus and Bonosa, and their skeletal remains, the future holds much promise. Testing will hopefully provide data from their blood, and computer reconstructions of their faces (at the very least, Bonosa, with her nearly complete skull) should finally reveal to us how the saints looked if we would have met them so many centuries ago or if, one day, we should encounter them in Heaven. 

---

[1] Dr. Carl E. Kramer, PhD, “The Church of St. Martin of Tours, A Brief History: 1853-1985.” In The Renaissance of The Church of St. Martin of Tours by Deborah Yetter (Shepherdsville, KY: Publishers Printing Company, 1992), 47.